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3i weighs fresh Countrywide bid

THE private-equity firm 3i is this weekend considering a £1 billion counterbid for Countrywide after Britain's biggest estate agent announced it had agreed to be taken over by Apollo, an American buyout firm. 3i's first attempt to support a management buyout of the estate agency was foiled by investors at an extraordinary meeting in January. They rejected the £950m offer as too cheap. 3i then said it would not return unless another party made a bid.

The initial management buyout was first attacked in January when an American value investor called Artisan wrote to Countrywide complaining the multiple being offered was 40% less than the takeover of a similar business in America. Other hedge funds piled in shortly afterwards to exploit the situation.

In recent weeks Apollo has approached a number of Countrywide's investors and it now believes it has sufficient support to back its higher offer. It also has